LOVERBOY has always had an indomitable musical pulse throbbing at its core. For Charles Jeffrey, music is tantamount to fashion and visual art in the diverse roster of inspirations feeding his practice. AW22’s Art of Noise collection presents a polyphonic love letter to music, riffing on the work of rebel cellist Arthur Russell alongside countless other influences.

In an unprecedented move marking the collection’s launch, Charles has teamed up with a host of talented musical collaborators to produce his first ever album, Neko. Penning lyrics with the multidisciplinary artist Robert Fox and working on production with experimental musician Tom Furse – formerly of The Horrors – the project has united close friends of LOVERBOY. The result is a multi-genre soundscape, oscillating from the classical to the industrial via soaring synths, hypnotic beats and spoken word courtesy of rising rapper Taliable.

Intended as a sonic accompaniment to the Art of Noise collection, Neko also marks a return to the dystopian narrative initially touched upon in AW20’s Hell Mend You offering, which centres on the inhabitants of a post-apocalyptic world fighting to reach the mythic floating city of AJUKA. The album’s title, taken from the Japanese word for cat, points subtly to a feline motif that slinks repeatedly through the LOVERBOY universe.